Buffer mechanism for car doors



March 20, 1928. 1,663,428

E. R. 'VIBERG BUFFER MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS Filed July 8, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGJ Patented Mar. 20, 1928'.

UNITED STATES:

1 ,663,428 PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST n. VIBERG; or MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

BUFFER MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS.

Application filed July 8, 1925, Serial No. 42,257, ani1 in Canada August4, 1923.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sllding doors.and isspecially adapted for use in railway baggage and mail cars or thelike. The object of the invention is to prov de a sliding door of theself-centeringtype, which will be simple, smooth and safe in operation.

Another object is to provide a sliding door which will not bind duringoperation.

A further object isto provide a sliding door which will automaticallyremain open when shunting or shifting open cars in the yards, or whenthe brake is suddenly applied, as in emergency brake action.

A still further object is to provide a sliding door which may beadjusted on its hangers to allow free movement of the door.

In my invention, I provide a sliding 'door with ballbearing runnersrotatably mounted on adjustable hangers fastened to the door. Therunners are mounted on a grooved runway securely attached to the lintelof the door. Small guide rollers are fitted to the hangers and areadapted toengage with the underside of the runway when the door tends tolift clear of the runway. Automatic means are also provided to preventan open door from closing during shunting or shifting operations in theyards or during emergency brake action, and said means is provided witha manually operated device for releasing the automatic means whenclosing the door. In the drawings which illustrate my invention;-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sliding door for a baggage car.

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the door.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the buffer stop.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the hanger.

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevatiom of the hanger.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the hanger.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the automatic stop. V

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the stop. Referring more particularly tothe drawings, 11 designates a door, which is pro- 50 vided withsupporting guide brackets 12 having projections 13. Slidably mounted andguided in the brackets 12 are the hangers 14, which are provided withslots 15 through which the projections 13 extend. Cast integral with thehangers and positioned at the bottom of the slots are the bosses 16,

through which adjusting screws 16 are passed and .are adapted to engagewith the projections 13 for adjusting the height of the door. The hangerbrackets are kept from outward movement by means of the washers 17engaging with the edges of the slots, said washers being held inposition by the screws 18 engaging with the guide brackets. Rotatablymounted on pins 19 passing through bearings 20 cast integral with thehangers are the runners 21, between which and the pins, ball bearings 22are mounted. The pins 19 are fastened in position by means of the splitpins 23. The runners have transversely curved treads 24 which run in agrooved runway 25 riveted or otherwise secured to the lintel 26 of thedoor. The door is supported by the runners, so that it frictionallyengages with the door framing. To prevent upward movement of the door,rollers 28 are provided and rotatably mounted on spindles 29 which areriveted to the hanger brackets, said rollers being, so positioned thatthey engage with the underside of therunway on will be readilyunderstood, the door being mounted on ball'bearings is very easy in itsmovement and, when shunting or shifting operations are in progress, anopen door is apt to close very rapidly due to the sudden starting andstopping of the train and this -may cause injury to the baggage man orcar in Figure 1. Riveted to the lintel of the door is the angle bracket36 which supports the plunger bracket 37. The plunger 38 is slidablymounted in the bracket 37 and is provided with a shoulder, between whichand the web 39 a compression spring 40 is placed. The position of thisbracket is such that when the lever engages with the end of the plunger,the door will be sli htly open. The end 41 of the bracket 37is evelledso that the lever when passing said bracket will the least upwardmovement of the door. As t gradually raise the handle and also preventany jamming movement.

The operation of the device is as follows The door, being mounted onball bearings, is very easy to move backwards and forwards in therunway. The runway is grooved to receive the transversely curved treadof the runnersand is therefore self centering, the maximum diameter ofthe runners always tending to ride in the bottom ofthe groove. Ifthrough any inadvertence the door should tend to rise, the rollersengage with the underside of the runway and thus prevent the runner fromriding clear of the groove. When opening the door,the plunger bracketengages with the upper edge of the lever and raises the handle.Immediately the lever passes the plunger bracket, the weight of thehandle pulls the lever into engaging position with the plunger, as shownin Figure l, and prevents the door from closing until the lever isplaced in the inoperative position by raising the handle bar. Theplunger is provided with a spring to reduce or cushion the shock causedby the door tending to close during sudden starting or stopping of thetravelling of the car in which the door is mounted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A buttermechanism for car doors and the like comprising latch means which willallow the doorfree movement in the opening direction when said latchmeans is in a predetermined position and means engaging with the latchmeans to keep the dooropen at least a predetermined amount during yardoperations.

2. A buffer mechanism for car doors and the like comprising, a latch barmounted on the door and spring bufi'er mechanism secured to the car andadapted to automatical- 1y allow the latch bar to pass it when the dooris moved in the opening direction but to restrict the movement of thedoor to a predetermined amount in the closing direction by engaging withthe latch bar.

3. A buffer mechanism for car doors and the like comprising a latch barslidably mounted on the door, a lever pivotally mounted on the door andpivotally secured at one end to the end of the latch bar, while theother or free end of the lever extends beyond the pivot mounting, aspring butter mechanism secured to the car and positioned to allow thedoor to move freely in the opening direction but to engage with the freeend of the lever to keep the door open at least a predetermined amountduring yard operations.

t; A car door safety mechanism comprising a spring butler mechanismsecured to the car, a latch bar slidably attached to the door, a leverpivotally attached to the door and to the latch bar and adapted to clearthe buffer mechanism by the weight of the latch bar to restrict theclosing of the door a predetermined distance and keep same open duringyard or shunting operations.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ERNEST R. VIBERG.

